Demand

The demand for animated entertainment has expanded with the increase in broadcasting hours by cable and satellite TV along with the growing popularity of the Internet. In the past, animation series were aimed at children aged nine and below. In recent years however, TV stations have been producing animation series for teenagers, adults and the whole family. Animation series like The Simpson's and King of the Hill have been successfully aired on primetime TV. The major markets include the United States, Canada, Japan, France, Britain and Germany. Licensing operations for T-shirts, caps and other items have also been a major source of revenue for animation companies. In Japan, several successful computer games have crossed over and have become animated series like Pokemon, Monster Farm, Power Stone and Detective Conan. More broadly speaking, animation is increasingly used in video games, and movies are also increasingly reliant on animation and computer graphic special effects.

The global market of animation sector is about US$ 50 billion and projected to become US $100 billion by 2008. The demand for animation programming and the business of animation production have expanded dramatically over the past decade. However the Indian market is only about US$ 0.6 billion (NASSCOM estimation: some estimates have it as low as US$ 0.1 billion). This replicates the Indian Industry segments in global presence. Using our creative minds we can create ripples in global market. It is here that tomorrow's opportunities lie and where India can become the most preferred offshore facility for the high end/high value work.

Overall, multimedia has arrived in a big way globally and India has to play a significant role in contributing to the technology and manpower required for this industry. The moment in time is an opportunity and if the time is right, you will create the momentum that will catapult it forward. For multimedia, the timing is right, the platform is wide and the potential is good. A need has been felt to synergize the various vertical segments of the Industry and Government, as an educational body, supports such an event. According to Industrialist India has a large creative base that needs to be trained; the need of the hour is to focus on these and find a way to bridge creativity and technology. They also mentioned that India has a huge potential to be the animation hub of the world. However, to reach to that stage, the Universities will need to reorganize the importance and structure itself better in providing Multimedia Education.

Supply

The demand-supply gap for skilled manpower in multimedia sector is still considered as fairly wide. Demand constantly outpaces supply and India is constantly looking at ways and means of bridging this gap. There is a dearth of skilled multimedia professionals in the market. To fit into this creative field and explore opportunities in this sector, it is important that students are trained on the latest multimedia technologies, which will enable them to leverage on their creative talent. Creative and technical skills make a perfect combination in the world of multimedia.

In the major markets of the world-the US, a recent partnership between IT giant IBM and independent producers for CG feature film production, economics of scale and size and new work station technology will radically alter the dynamics of the animation market yet again, as mega size projects (US$ 60 million+) and revenues determine who does the work and where? Indian computer graphics and animation firms can reap huge benefits. Whereas companies in India which has to ramp up from 10 to 100 people in a month and up to 1000+ in six months for the right kind of the size of the projects.

The world is coming to us today to equip their studios with our professionals with their sound technical knowledge and strong fundamentals and to meet these requirements; India has to become as one of the largest markets in supplying the needs of multimedia sector and it has to produce skilled multimedia specialists to overcome the gap between demand and supply.

However, over time, the requirement and quest for multimedia talent is going to become extremely crucial. With the industry moving towards global benchmarking, the requirement for additional trained multimedia personnel is becoming a key issue, though our educational institutions are producing manpower, the industry requirements are met at a very negligible rate.

Service oriented educational training programs should be organized through proper governing bodies (Universities/Colleges) in providing the quality education to meet the industrial requirements.